India : HOCL employees keep their fingers crossed
Employees of the Kochi unit of the Hindustan Organic Chemicals Limited (HOCL) are keeping their fingers crossed as the company’s case comes up for hearing at the meeting of the
Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) on November 15.
Employees’ unions feel that the stand taken by the government will prove crucial as the BIFR was expecting an answer to the question whether the company should be wound up or revived even as the Union Ministry of Chemicals is reportedly pursuing a revival package for the company.
Though the employees’ unions have been given assurance by the Ministry that the company would not be wound up, there is apprehension among them about the future, the most immediate issue being stoppage of production.
The phenol and acetone plants here have been shut since mid-June after production had restarted in mid-April this year, trade union sources said. The stalling of production created a situation in which the company is not in a position to pay their salaries in benefits.
In fact, about 500 employees of the HOCL unit here have been paid some relief ahead of the Onam festival. But their full salaries are pending.
The employees have decided to keep up the pressure on the company to provide help to revive the unit, which still has the potential to run profitably given the market conditions. Trade union sources said they planned to intensify the agitation after Onam. They also plan to use the offices of the Chief Minister of Kerala and other Ministers to draw the attention of the Union government to the problems.
The employees have launched a relay hunger strike, which is 22 days old. There is also a protest sit-in by the employees, which has been on for nearly 50 days now.